Merchandise handler



y 1941- E. D. TURNHAM 2,242,408

MERCHANDISE HANDLER Filed Oct. 28, 1938 Patented May 20, 1941 MERCHANDISE HANDLER Ellis 1). Turnham, Houston, Tex., ass ignorto Joe Welngarten, Houston, Tex.

Application October 28, 1938, Serial No. 237,396

6Claims.

The invention relates to a device for assisting in the handling of merchandise at the checker or cashier's station or stand in grocery stores andthe like.

In cash and carry stores it is the practice for the customer to gather up the goods or articles which have been selected and to approach the cashier's stand usually carrying the articles in.a basket. It is necessary for the customer to stand in line and eventually his heavy basket of articles is deposited on the counter in front of the checker. It is then necessary for the checker to pick out the articles from. the basket to record them individually on the register and sort them as they are picked out of the basket in order to group together the various articles. Many times where two or three cans or objects of the same type of article are sold for a lump sum, such as three cans for twenty-five cents, the checker must hunt through the entire basket of goods to pick out these several similar cans or articles. As a consequence thereof considerable delay is encountered at the checkers stand due to the fact that the checker must perform all of these operations while recording the price of the goods on the register. The result has been that in larger stores a great number of checkers have been required and each checker must be provided with a register. Registers of this type cost several hundred dollars and as a result the store owner has been put to considerable investment in registers and considerable expense in maintaining an excessive number of checkers in order to prevent delay and dissatisfaction on the part of the customers.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to simplify and reduce the acts which must be performed by the checker and sort the articles and arrange them in a manner whereby they can be conveniently checked.

Another object of the inventionis to provide a frame work for a checker counter whereby the goods of each customer can be grouped together and moved to a position convenient to the checker to be recorded.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pusher stand for checker counters in grocery stores.

Another object of the invention is to sort the articles of a customer and arrange them together so that the customer may observe the absence of some items and may at the same time estimate the total cost thereof so as to save the time of the checker when the purchases are being recorded.

Another object of the invention is to'provide a checker stand so that it will accommodate a pusher, a checker and a sacker each of whom may perform specific acts in order to facilitate the registering and disposing of a customer in an eflicient manner.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a frame whereby the goods of a customer may be grouped together and moved along the counter as a unit.

Other and further objects of theinvention will be readily apparent when the following description is considered in connection with the accom panying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view looking down upon a counter which has been equipped with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the counter of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 are sections taken on the lines 3-3 and 5-4 respectively of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 2 the cashier or checkers counter is indicated generally at 2 and as seen in Fig. 1 is an elongated counter having a top 3 thereon. It is usual that a guard rail or fence 4 be positioned adjacent the rear of the counter so as to provide a space 5 as seen in Fig. 1. The cash register or recording register 6 is usually positioned as seen in Fig. 1 closely adjacent the location where the checker will stand. This location is indicated at. I. While at the opposite end of the area 5 as at 8 will be the position of the person who picks up the articles and places them in sacks or bags to be handed to the customer. The customer passes along the front edge Hi of the counter. The construction thus far described is that usually employed in checker stands or counters of this type and as previously noted the customer at the present time approaches the area I? and places his basket in position on top of the counter, whereupon the checker removes the goods from the basket and records them on the register 6. A sacker picks up the articles and places them in the sack. This arrangement, however, has been found unsatisfactory for it is necessary for the customers to line up to the left of the position 12, each customer carrying a heavy basket of goods.

The'present invention contemplates the provision of an extension on the counter such as seen at IS in Fig. 1. This extension may be of the same width as the top 3 of the counter 2 and may be of any desired length. This extension I5 is provided with top. l6 upon which the various articles I! are deposited either by the customer or by what will be known hereinafter as the pusher boy. In many of the stores small wagons or carriages are provided upon which one or two baskets may be deposited and these carriages are wheeled around by the customer while he is selecting the various articles which he desires to purchase. In any event the customer approaches the cashiers extension or stand IS with the basket and the pusher boy quickly removes the articles I! from the basket and deposits them on the top It. A particular advantage of this arrangement is that in the majority of instances each .of the articles H has a price marked thereon and the pusher boy in depositing them on the counter will arrange the goods with the prices uppermost or exposed so that they can be conveniently observed by the checker. Another function of the pusher boy is to sort the goods and where several articles are being sold for a lump price these several articles can be grouped together so that the checker may observe that this group of articles have been purchased for the lump sum price.

When the pusher boy has deposited the articles as seen in Fig. 1 in position on the counter, they are then ready to be moved along the top of the counter to the cashier's stand as at l2. To accomplish the movement of all the articles I! as a unit the framework has been slidably positioned on the top It of the extension I! and this framework is arranged to be moved to the right as viewed in Fig. 1 so that the ends 2! thereof can move forwardly such as at 22. This frame 20 has a handle 24 thereon which may be grasped by the pusher boy in order to move it or the frame may be grasped directly.

As 'seen in Fig. 1 the framework 'is several inches in height and is of a U-shape having a front side bar 26 and a rear side bar 21 which are joined by the end bar 28. In this manner the group of articles II are enclosed by the framework and as the frame is pushed along the top of the counter, the group of goods are compelled to slide with the framework so that they are advanced to a position convenient to the checker.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the bar construction of the framework has been illustrated wherein the side bars are slidable on the top of the counter l8 and if desired a stop plate 29 may be aihxed to the end of the counter so that the end bar 28 will abut against it to prevent the frame from moving off from the end of the counter. This construction is seen in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 shows the arrangement of the side bars 21 and 26 in order to anchor the frame on the top of the counter II. This arrangement includes a 4 channel member 30 which is anchored to the top it of the counter and fits an interfitting channel member 3| therein which is fixed to the side bar 21 by bolts or screws 32. In this manner the framework 20 cannot be elevated beyond the height of the channel 30 because of the arrangement of the interfitting legs of the channels ill and II. Thus the frame cannot be inadvertently pushed out of position. In order to guide the frame in its sliding movement the side bar 26 has a base 35 thereon which fits in a channel 38 fixed on the rear edge 31 of the top I. This base or edge 35 guides the frame in its sliding movement as it travels along the channel 35. It will be noted that the channel 30 is disposed inwardly a short distance from the edge ll of the counter as seen in Figs. 1 and 4 so that its sliding movement will not strike a customer who might be leaning against the edge of the counter.

In operation the pusher boy takes the goods from the customer, deposits them on the counter it within the frame 20, sorting the goods and arranging them in a manner so that they can be conveniently checked by the cashier. When the cashier has disposed of the previous customer, the pusher boy then moves the framework 20 to the right as viewed in Fig. 1 so as to push all of the customers articles up to the cashier as a unit or in a group together. The frame is then withdrawn and the pusher boy proceeds to deposit the next customers goods within the frame. The checker meanwhile can record on the register 6 the prices of all of the goods and the sacker then picks up the goods as they are recorded and places them in bags or sacks for the customer. The customer is satisfied because he has been immediately relieved of the articles which he has selected, goods have been placed conveniently before him so that he may observe any errors and roughly estimate the general cost. The prices are all displayed conveniently for him and he does not feel uneasy due to the fact that the goods are not properly grouped or that someone else's articles have been included with those of his own selection.

In actual practice the provision of this arrangement has substantially reduced the time per customer for checking the goods purchased and has resulted in a substantial reduction in the number of registers required and the number of checkers which are necessary to take care of a given number of customers.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a cashier's counter of an extension thereon, a top on said extension to receive merchanise, and an open bottom enclosure movable relatively to the extension and comter to slide the merchandise along the said top and extension to a position on said counter.

2. A cashiers counter in a cash and carry type of grocery, a cashier station, a portion on the counter to receive the merchandise being purchased, and means slidable on the surface of the counter to enclose and move such merchandise to the cashier station.

3. In a cash and carry type of cashier's counter, a register on the counter, a cashier station, a portion on the counter to receive the merchandise being purchased, and means to enclose such merchandise on the surface of the counter and to move with such merchandise to the cashier station, so that all the articles of merchandise of a customer will be positioned together.

4. A checkers stand including a counter of the character described, an open bottom pusher frame thereon, means to guide said frame in sliding movement so that goods placed on the end of said counter within said frame may be pushed along the counter in a group to a position adjacent the checker by movement of said frame.

5. A cashiers counter for cash and carry type of grocery comprising a portion spaced from the cashiers stand and upon which the merchandise may be deposited and arranged, a bottomless three sided frame on said portion and within which the merchandise is deposited and arranged,

' means whereby said frame is movable on said counter from said portion to a position adjacent the cashier's stand so that the merchandise may thus be moved as a group to a point where it may be conveniently observed, counted and registered by the cashier.

6. A cashier's counter for cash and carry type of grocery comprising a portion spaced from the cashiers stand and upon which the merchandise may be deposited and arranged, a bottomless frame on said portion and within which the merchandise whereby said frame is movable on said counter from said portion to a position adjacent the cashiers stand so that the merchandise may thus be moved as a group to a point where it may be conis deposited and arranged, means be returned over said portion so as to receive the merchandise of another customer while the cashier is occupied with the previous group.

ELLIS D. TURNHAM.

Disclaimer 2,242,408.--E'ZZ is D. Turnham, Houston, Tex. MERCHANDISE HANDLER. Patent dated May 20, 1941. Disclaimer filed Apr. 16, 1951, by the assignee, Supermarket Equipment Corpomtz'on. Hereby enters this disclaimer to claims 4:, 5, and 6 of said patent.

[Ofiioial Gazette M ay 8, 1.951.] 

